Architecture Groups Toronto

🎨🏙️ GRADEX 111 – OCAD UNIVERSITY ART EXHIBITION & SOCIAL 🏙️🎨

🎨🏙️ **GRADEX 111 – OCAD UNIVERSITY ART EXHIBITION & SOCIA**L 🏙️🎨 Emerging Artists, Creative Energy & A Cultural Hangout If you want to feel inspired, this is the kind of event that does it. Join us for GradEx 111 at OCAD University — Toronto’s largest free art and design exhibition, featuring work from over 800 graduating artists and designers. This is a chance to step into the next wave of creativity — exploring everything from painting and photography to design, installation, and experimental work, all in one space. It’s vibrant, it’s varied, and there’s always something that catches you off guard in the best way. This is not a formal tour. It’s a social outing — come explore, react, and experience it together. 👉 📲 **Join Our WhatsApp Group:**[ Click here to join](https://chat.whatsapp.com/DRFTkxRlHS4B3IL1lMleUd) \*\*\* 🚶‍♂️ **What We’ll Do** We’ll meet outside and head into the exhibition together, spending about 1.5–2 hours exploring the different displays across the building. You’ll have time to move at your own pace, take it all in, and check out the wide range of disciplines on display. **There’s also:** 🎓 Student work available for purchase 🏅 A special medal-winning exhibition in the Great Hall 🛋️ An alumni lounge space Afterward, we’ll head out to find a nearby spot for drinks or food and keep the conversation going. You’re welcome to join or head out whenever you like. \*\*\* 🎨 Vibe & Expectations This is a relaxed, low-pressure event — no art expertise needed. Just: ✔️ Curiosity ✔️ Openness ✔️ A willingness to explore Also — this is NOT a guided tour. It’s about experiencing the exhibition in your own way, while being part of a social group. \*\*\* 🧢 Meetup Details 📍 Meetup Location: Corner of Dundas St W & McCaul St (AGO side) 🫎 I’ll be wearing my Moose Hat ⏰ Meetup Time: 11:00 AM I will only wait 5 minutes. Early is on time. On time is late. We’ll head in promptly. End Point: Back at the starting location \*\*\* 🎟️ Meetup Fee: $5 cash in person or e-transfer to 📧 \*\*[mathewmaclean@hotmail.com**](http://mathewmaclean@hotmail.com%2A%2A/) The exhibition itself is free. This fee helps support the group and allows us to keep hosting events like this. Thank you for supporting community! 💖 \*\*\* 🎒 **What to Bring** Water Comfortable shoes (we’ll be on our feet) Curiosity and an open mind 🎨 Optional: cash/card for food & drinks afterward \*\*\* 🌈 **Who Is This For?** This group is open to anyone who wants to be social and make friends — whether single or not. **We also host:** 🎬 Movies 🚶 Walks & hikes 🎭 Arts & culture outings 🍽️ Restaurant gatherings There’s always something happening. \*\*\* **REMEMBER:** You’re welcome to just show up on the day if you’re unsure about your schedule. And as always, sometimes plans shift and events may need to be canceled — please keep an eye on updates. \*\*\* 👤 Organizer: Mathew Questions? Post on the event wall or email 📧 [torontomoviesandoutings@hotmail.com](mailto:torontomoviesandoutings@hotmail.com) Come for the art. Stay for the conversation. Leave feeling inspired by what people are creating right now. 🎨✨11

Croatian Yacht Island Hopper: SECOND DEPARTURE!

REST is for Agents: Rediscovering Spring HATEOAS

The playbook for AI agent integration is becoming predictable: build an MCP server, expose your APIs as tools, and define the rules in prompts. That approach works, but it often pushes workflow and guardrails into client-side logic, where they are harder to enforce and easier to bypass. This talk presents a different approach. HATEOAS (Hypermedia As The Engine Of Application State)—a largely overlooked part of REST—allows an API to describe allowed actions and constraints at runtime. That makes it a natural fit for agents, which need clear, machine-readable guidance about what they can safely do next. We’ll show this in action with MoneyMate, an AI agent that performs sensitive operations such as money transfers. Using the Spring HATEOAS project, the agent is guided entirely by the API rather than by hardcoded tools or fragile prompt logic. AI hype aside, this is ultimately a talk about architectural validation. For years, HATEOAS was the hill REST purists loved to die on—complete with finger-wagging about “doing REST correctly”—while everyone else quietly shipped simple JSON and moved on. It turns out the purists weren’t wrong—just 20 years early. Come see why that extra structure finally pays off when your client is an LLM. **About the venue** Free Times Cafe has bistro-style seating and a full food and drink menu. Please consider helping to support the venue by planning to have supper during the talk. **Speaker Bio** Adib Saikali is a distinguished engineer at Tanzu by Broadcom, focused on helping Tanzu’s largest customers design and build cloud native applications and platforms using Spring and Kubernetes. Adib is the author of Securing Cloud Applications a book that teaches application developers the fundamental security technologies and protocols required to secure cloud native applications. Over the past 25 years Adib has worked at startups and global enterprises on numerous software systems in a variety of roles, from software developer, architect, agile coach, and CTO. He has developed a 360-degree view of what it takes to build software systems efficiently, and economically.

From Tests to Trust: How QA Creates Value Outlasting Tech Shift | Toronto Meetup

The Test Tribe 13th Toronto Meetup – From Tests to Trust: How QA Creates Value That Outlasts Technology Shifts Tools change. Frameworks evolve. AI reshapes workflows. But one thing remains constant: the expectation that QA delivers value. In a world of rapid technological change, the real question isn’t what tools we use - it’s how QA creates trust, clarity, and better decisions across teams. At the 13th Toronto Meetup, we step back from tools and trends to explore a deeper question: What does quality really mean to the business - and how can QA deliver it consistently, regardless of technology shifts? **Event Details** * **Date: April 29th, 2026 (Wednesday)** * **Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET** * **Venue: Tribal Scale** * **Maps Link:** https://maps.app.goo.gl/hqUyAVXKLQhPFsUK6?g_st=ic **Session: From Tests to Trust: How QA Creates Value That Outlasts Technology Shifts** **Speaker: Youssef Menkhour** **About the Session** Technology in QA is evolving rapidly - but expectations from stakeholders often remain unchanged. In this session, Youssef Menkhour brings a QA Director’s perspective to explore: * What different roles (engineering, product, business) actually expect from testing * How QA creates value indirectly, beyond test execution * Why traditional outputs - tests, reports, meetings - often fail to drive real decisions * How to simplify QA practices to better support clarity, alignment, and impact This talk challenges conventional thinking and focuses on how QA can move beyond activity-driven work to become a driver of trust and decision-making within organizations. **Key Takeaways** * Understand what stakeholders truly expect from QA * Learn how QA delivers value beyond test cases and execution * Simplify testing outputs to better support real decisions * Shift from activity-driven QA to impact-driven quality engineering * Build practices that remain relevant across changing technologies **About the Speaker** Youssef Menkhour is a Director of Quality Assurance with 15+ years of experience leading enterprise and SaaS-focused QA organizations across industries including insurance, banking, media, and telecommunications. At Alithya, he advises clients on quality modernization, helping organizations adopt automation-first strategies, shift-left testing, and CI/CD-aligned delivery models. Youssef is passionate about redefining QA’s role - from a supporting function to a strategic contributor that drives trust, alignment, and long-term value. **Why You Should Attend** * Gain a leadership perspective on the future of QA * Learn how to create value beyond tools and frameworks * Understand how to align QA work with business outcomes * Rethink how testing supports decision-making * Connect with Toronto’s QA and tech community **About The Test Tribe** The Test Tribe is the world’s largest software testing community, empowering testers globally since 2018. With 700+ events and 150K+ members across 130+ countries, we bring testers together to learn, grow, and connect through meetups, conferences, cohorts, masterclasses, and more. By RSVPing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and consent to be contacted by The Test Tribe and our event partners.

TOPHATs Village Idiot, Beatles at AGO for Free, and OCAD @111th

Join Lawrence, your top hatted host, for an evening of local food, interesting beers, Paul McCartney's photos, an AGOs collection of photos, and OCADs 111th celebration. At 6 pm. we will warm-up at the Village Idiot for a beer and a bite. They have a great selection of Ontario Craft and Traditional European beers. I usually start with a Fullers. Their menu of fine foods, includes a wicked pulled pork poutine, eggplant parm with pesto rice, and poke tuna cobb salad. https://www.villagegeniuspub.com/food-menu 126 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T 1W2 7pmish, we will join the fast moving queue, to gain our Free entry to the AGO. Please book your digital entry here: https://visit.ago.ca/59813/59875 Then we will head to the back to ride the lift to the 5th floor to see Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm These intimate and historic photographs, shown alongside video clips and archival materials, capture both the intensity of The Beatles touring schedule and the energy of the era, as well more intimate views of his bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. https://ago.ca/exhibitions/paul-mccartney-photographs-1963-64-eyes-storm Afterwards, we will descend to the ground floor and make our way to Collective Visions: Celebrating 25 Years of Photography Organized by Sophie Hackett, this exhibition aims to highlight the breadth of the AGO’s photography collection, representing a diverse range of artists, artistic genres and approaches, subject matter, and materials. Accompanied by responses from the participants, the works on view offer a rich and varied perspective on the medium of photography. https://ago.ca/exhibitions/collective-visions-celebrating-25-years-photography Around 8:00 pm, we will leave the AGO for OCAD around the corner for the Opening Night event to Celebrate this year’s student medal winners at one of Toronto’s most fun art parties with a bar, food, DJ and the city’s most creative people. https://www.ocadu.ca/gradex111 OR You can continue to visit other galleries in the AGO until they close at 9pm.

Bad Toronto: Brothels to the Blue Laws! (RETURN FOR 2026)

\*\***The Toronto History Walks Yearly Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email** [torontohistorywalks@gmail.com](http://torontohistorywalks@gmail.com%2A%2A/) **for more information or for signing up!\*\*** \*\* **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket price when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** [torontohistorywalks@gmail.com](http://torontohistorywalks@gmail.com%2A%2A/) On May 28, 1961 the celebrated entertainer Cupcake Cassidy appeared on stage at the Lux Theatre on College Street West at Brunswick Avenue to an adoring public. But it wasn't a happy situation for all. Just the thought of this type of activity in good old Toronto on a Sunday was disconcerting. What was the world coming to? People asked in the "City of Churches." Toronto wasn't into this type of entertainment, or was it? From the circus riot of 1855, to the "east end of downtown," brothels, and the Yonge Street Sin Strip of the 1960s and 1970s, Toronto wasn't exactly the type of city you would bring home to mother, or anyone for that matter. It was a city of exotic entertainment with an underground life, flair and danger. In 1968 two young men disappeared from two well known cafes on Yorkville avenue, their remains were found decades later and more cases are coming to light. Murder in old Toronto, how and why, was becoming the catch phrase! Drugs and crime haunted the streets of Yorkville and migrated south on Yonge Street to set up shop between Gerrard and Dundas Street known as The Strip! And we were called boring!!!!!!! With the tragic and heartbreaking murder of a 12 year old shoeshine boy the fun and danger loving city decided enough was enough, and the raids and closings started. But Toronto has a long history of underground activity, activity that one wouldn't even dream was circulating in the city of churches and Toronto the good. You could say it was Toronto the bad or even Toronto, the downright wicked. Sodom and Gomorrah of the north, well maybe that's a stretch. Or is it? hummmmmm! Points to Ponder indeed! With over 4 months of research this tour will open your eyes as to the real Toronto. A fascinating walk into the real dark side of this city. Please be advised this tour is not for children. Our walk begins at the dog fountain in Berczy Park at 35 Wellington Street East. We end at College and Yonge Street! This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person. \*\* **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket price when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** [torontohistorywalks@gmail.com](http://torontohistorywalks@gmail.com%2A%2A/)

PORTFOLIO BUILDER w/ WILLA

Fashion Implied/ Fine Art w/ Willa Prescott from N. Carolina ( #1)

Fashion Implied/ Fine Art w/ Willa Prescott from N. Carolina ( #2)

Designing Better Ideas: From Divergence to artful convergence.

A hands-on workshop on turning insights into ideas that actually hold. Most ideas aren’t bad. They’re just… premature. ​We’re trained to move fast, jump to solutions, and make things look good quickly. ​But good design doesn’t come from speed. It comes from **seeing differently.** ​This session is about breaking that habit. ​This hands-on workshop explores how ideas actually emerge i.e through tension, constraints, and collaboration and not just creativity. ​ **👉 To secure your spot, please register via [Luma](https://luma.com/caozni5i): https://luma.com/caozni5i** (*Meetup RSVPs don’t guarantee a seat*) # ​**What we’ll do:** ​**Start with people (but not in a fluffy way)** ​Map real experiences ​Surface assumptions ​Interrogate what we think we know ​ ​**Push beyond obvious ideas** ​Generate more (and worse) ideas — on purpose ​Break out of default thinking patterns ​ ​**Make it real** ​Work with constraints ​Shape direction ​Turn messy thinking into something tangible ​ ## ​**What you’ll take away** * ​Why most teams default to shallow thinking * ​How to actually *practice* divergent thinking (not just talk about it) * ​What it means to move from insight → concept * ​How constraints make ideas stronger, not weaker ​**Who this is for** * ​Professionals who want to relax, nerd out, and build fun things * ​Designers who are tired of surface-level workshops * ​People who jump to solutions (you know who you are) * ​Anyone curious about how ideas *actually* come together ​ ​**About Service Design Drinks (SDD)** ​SDD is a community of practice for people interested in service design. ​We host casual, hands-on sessions to learn, share, and grow together - no fluff, just thoughtful work and conversation. ​ ​**Agenda** ​5:30 pm \| Arrival \+ settle in ​6:00 pm \| Workshop session ​7:30 pm \| Stay back and connect

AWS JAM Session | AWS User Group Toronto April Meetup

**Hands-on. Real-world. Team-based. AWS JAM is here!** Join us for an exciting evening of cloud-powered challenges at our **AWS JAM Session**, hosted during the **AWS User Group Toronto** April meetup. This interactive session will challenge individuals and teams to solve **real-world, open-ended problems using AWS services.** Whether you're a seasoned AWS builder or just getting started, JAM sessions offer a collaborative and gamified environment to learn, compete, and grow your cloud skills. *** ### **What to Expect:** * Hands-on problem-solving * Team-based format – form your squad onsite * friendly competition * Swag & prizes for top performers * Networking with AWS experts and cloud enthusiasts ### **What You’ll Need:** * Laptop with Wi-Fi access * AWS account (will be provided) * Curious mindset and collaborative spirit! ### **Date and Time:** **-> Thursday, April 30, 2026** **-> 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT** *** ### **Location:** **AWS Office ;** Floor 47 - 40 King St W, Toronto, ON M5H 1H1 ### **Venue Note:** We’re hosting this at the **AWS Toronto Office**, So please RSVP early and update your status if your plans change. **Let’s JAM and build something awesome together! 💥**

Passion for Fashion -1960's

## Time & Location Apr 30, 2026, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM Revprint Studio 205 , 146 Thirtieth St, Etobicoke, ON M8W 3C4, Canada you can purchase tickets here or on our website at www.wtpg.ngo ## About the event ### **Passion for Fashion 1960's edition Lighting Workshop** **Date:** Thursday, May 30th 2026 **Time:** 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM **Instructor:** *Phil Sutherland* – Elinchrom Ambassador & Executive Director, West Toronto Photography Group Model Anjali- gallery of images from previous workshop -This workshop features wardrobe selected by Adrianna Fulop and is a great selection of 1960's fashion    **Lighting Equipment:** Provided by **Elinchrom** **Location:** Revprint Studio 205 - 146 Thirtierth street unit 205 **Workshop Size:** Limited to **6 participants** #### **Workshop Overview** Join us for a fun and informative **Passion for Fashion photography lighting and shooting workshop** designed to help you build skills and portfolio images and technical skills in the art of Fashion lighting. Whether you’re new to studio photography or looking to refine your lighting technique, this hands-on session will guide you through essential tools, setups, and creative lighting approaches. This **three-hour, small-group workshop** ensures plenty of individual attention, shooting time, and opportunities to ask questions.   #### **What You’ll Learn** 1. **Studio Gear** A detailed overview of lighting equipment, modifiers, and how we will use them for each lighting set up we build as a group .. 2. **Studio Design & Setup**Understand how to plan and use studio space efficiently for portrait sessions. 3. **Modifiers & Light Quality** Explore how different modifiers affect your images as we utilize the Rotolaux modifiers from Elinchrom in studio. 4. **Building a Lighting Setup** As a group we will step-by-step construct professional portrait lighting setups using Elinchrom lights and modifiers. 5. **Hands-On Shooting Practice** Photograph our model Lilli in **multiple lighting setups that create strong and elegant lighting** —each participant will have one-on-one shooting time and instructor feedback. You will get some stunning images for your portfolio from the small group 3 hour portrait perfection lighting workshop #### **Who Should Attend** This workshop is ideal for photographers of all skill levels who want to: * Learn or refresh the fundamentals of portrait and studio lighting or pick up a few new tricks * Get hands-on experience with professional lighting equipment from Elinchrom * Practice creating and refining lighting setups that you can use to WOW clients * Build confidence shooting portraits in a studio environment while updating your portfolio #### **What to Bring** * A **DSLR or mirrorless camera** with a working hot-shoe * **Fresh batteries** and **formatted memory cards** * Your **favourite lens** (anything between 10mm–200mm works great) * Curiosity, creativity, and your passion for photography! #### **What’s Included** * Professional instruction and lighting gear provided by **Elinchrom** * Access to a variety of light modifiers: reflectors, umbrellas, softboxes, grids, snoots, and beauty dishes * A safe, supportive, and professional environment to learn and network * Dedicated time with the model for individual shooting opportunities \*\*Time is money, and we value yours.\*\*That’s why we keep our workshops efficient, informative, and fun—so you leave inspired, informed, and ready to light your next portrait session like a pro.